What to Do If a Pipe Bursts — Step-by-Step Emergency Guide

A burst pipe can flood a room in under 15 minutes and cause £10,000+ of damage in an hour. The actions you take in the first three minutes matter more than anything else you'll do. This guide covers exactly what to do, in what order, to limit the damage before help arrives.

Step 1: Turn off the main stopcock — immediately

Don't try to find the source of the leak first. Don't try to catch the water with towels. Don't take photos. The very first action is to shut off the water supply at the main stopcock. Every second of delay adds to the damage.

The stopcock is typically:

• Under the kitchen sink, on the rising main pipe
• In a utility room or under-stairs cupboard
• In the garage or boiler cupboard in newer builds

Turn it clockwise until it stops. After a moment, the leak will reduce and stop as the residual pressure clears.

If you can't find the stopcock or it's seized: every property also has an external stopcock at the property boundary or pavement, in a small box marked "stopcock" or "water". This takes a stopcock key (sometimes called a stop tap key) to operate — Anglian Water can advise on 0800 771 881.

Step 2: Switch off the boiler and central heating

Turn the boiler off at its electrical isolator (usually a switched fused spur on the wall next to the boiler). This stops the boiler attempting to circulate water through an empty system, which can damage the heat exchanger and pump.

Turn the central heating off at the thermostat to be doubly sure.

Step 3: Drain the system

Open every cold tap in the property — kitchen, bathroom, utility, downstairs WC. Flush every toilet. This drains the residual water from the pipework above the burst and stops the leak feeding water into the leak position.

If the leak is hot water, also open the hot taps to drain the cylinder and the hot pipework.

Step 4: Turn off electricity if water is near electrics

Water and electricity are a fatal combination. If water is:

• Dripping through a ceiling near a light fitting
• Running near sockets or wall switches
• Reaching the consumer unit (fuse box)
• Pooling on a floor where electrics are visible

Switch off the mains electricity at the consumer unit. Don't touch any switch or socket that's wet. If the consumer unit itself is wet, do not approach it — call the electricity emergency line on 105.

Step 5: Contain the water

Now that the supply is off and the system is draining, deal with the water already in the property:

• Towels, sheets, and old bedding to soak up water on floors
• Buckets, basins, or anything that catches drips from above
• Move electronics, books, photos, and valuables clear of wet areas
• If a ceiling is bulging from trapped water, pierce a small hole at the lowest point with a screwdriver or kitchen knife and drain it into a bucket. Counter-intuitive but it prevents the whole ceiling collapsing.

Step 6: Photograph everything for insurance

Once the immediate danger is controlled, take comprehensive photos and video of:

• The source of the leak (the burst pipe itself)
• All affected rooms, walls, ceilings, floors
• Damaged belongings (furniture, electronics, soft furnishings)
• The water level at its highest point if pooling has occurred

Take photos before you start cleaning. Insurance assessors expect photographic evidence of the original damage.

Step 7: Call an emergency plumber

Call a Gas Safe registered emergency plumber. Have ready:

• Your address and postcode
• What's leaking (pipe, radiator, boiler, appliance)
• Confirmation that the stopcock and boiler are off
• Whether electricity is on or off in the affected area
• How accessible the leak is (visible, behind a wall, under floor)

For burst pipe emergencies in Peterborough call our 24/7 line on 01733 797074. We attend across all PE postcodes plus surrounding areas — typical response time is 60 minutes during the working day, up to 2 hours overnight. See our emergency plumber service for full coverage.

What not to do

• Don't try to repair a burst copper or plastic pipe yourself unless you have the correct fittings, pipe cutters, and experience. Improvised repairs almost always fail under pressure when water is turned back on.
• Don't apply heat to thaw a still-frozen pipe in the same area. If the pipe burst from freezing, more heat applied indiscriminately can cause additional bursts as more sections thaw.
• Don't lift wet carpet immediately if you intend to keep it — it needs careful drying first.
• Don't refuse the engineer access to other parts of the property. They may need to check the stopcock, the meter, the loft, or the boiler — all are part of the diagnosis.

After the immediate emergency

Once the plumber has stopped the leak:

• Contact your home insurance to report the incident and request a claim form
• Don't dispose of any damaged items until the assessor has seen them
• Begin drying the affected areas — fans, open windows, dehumidifiers if available
• Watch for damp and mould over the following weeks — call the insurer back if either develops

Prevention is dramatically cheaper than cure. If you'd like a plumbing health check on your property to identify burst risks before they occur (old isolation valves, vulnerable pipework, missing insulation), our plumbing repair team can carry out a survey across PE postcodes. Most incidents we attend were preventable with under £100 of preventive work.